It’s 2013, But Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Still Excludes LGBT Groups (xpost from Veterans)

[unhappycamper]

http://bostinno.com/2013/03/15/boston-st-patricks-day-parade-still-excludes-lgbt-groups/

It’s 2013, But Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Still Excludes LGBT Groups
Yesterday at 1:25 pm by Walter Frick Posted in St. Patrick's Day

This Sunday, much of Boston will head to Southie for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. But amid the drinking and the music, there’s a legacy of exclusion that continues to hang over the event.

~snip~

Fast forward to today and nothing has changed. It’s 2013, and yet the St. Patrick’s Day parade, a centerpiece of Boston culture, continues to exclude LGBT groups. Instead, there’s now a second parade organized by Veterans for Peace that starts right after the first parade, following the same route. And the best the City of Boston can do, apparently, is hold off on sweeping the streets until after the second parade finishes, so as not to give the impression that it’s time to go home after the first one.

The irony, of course, is that Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage a full eight years ago. And yet this kind of exclusion is still tolerated.

~snip~

Perhaps the most depressing thing about all of this is that most of the parade-goers this weekend will likely have no idea that the event they’re watching is organized by a discriminatory institution that has gone to great lengths to avoid moderating its stance. The parade is one of Boston’s marquee annual events, but it should also be a source of our collective shame.



unhappycamper comment: The Smedley Butler Chapter of the Veterans For Peace sued the City of Boston to put the street sweepers at the end of the second (ours) parade. We received word yesterday that Meninio said to put the street sweepers after the first parade.

I'm sure Mayor Menino would love to hear your thoughts on this decision.

Mayor Menino's hotline: [phone] (the line has been busy since last night, so perseverance is key)

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. NYC too..... AFAIK. n/t

[dsc]

2. the irony is dublin's allows gays

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Irish-born people seem consistently to be of a different mind set than...

...*most* Irish Americans.

Politically; socially; in almost every way imaginable. There's lots of both varieties in this neck and the differences are *glaring*.

Lots of Irish immigrants cannot fathom why, for instance, their American-born cousins ( like me, btw) would consider voting GOP. They truly can't figure it out.

In Ireland it's assumed that one would be guided in voting by a desire to promote one's own enlightened self-interest. Which usually corresponds with whatever portends the greatest good for the greatest # of people.

Personally, I think it's American tv. It dulls the mind. And the senses.

Or maybe there's something in the water here.

[joeybee12]

4. Wasn't South Boston the home of all the riots over busing in the 60's?

Boston, like most cities, has sections of ignorance, and South Boston is theirs.